Wreckage 'appears to be Fossett's plane'

Rescue crews have found the wreckage of a small plane in eastern California mountains that appears to be the one piloted by millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett, the National Transportation Safety Board has said.

The NTSB said the small airplane found "appears to be the aircraft piloted by Steve Fossett."

The safety board did not say anything in a statement about finding any remains of Fossett's body.

Mr Fossett, 63, vanished in his single-engine Bellanca airplane after taking off from a private airstrip in Nevada in September 2007.

The wreckage was located about 3,200 meters up the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the vicinity of Mammoth Lakes, California. The NTSB said it has sent an investigator to the accident site.

The fact that safety board officials were dispatched to the scene and would comment publicly on the plane indicates a strong likelihood that it was Mr Fossett's.

Despite weeks of extensive land and air searches after Mr Fossett disappeared, no wreckage was found, and he was declared legally dead in February after investigators concluded that his airplane was destroyed in a fatal accident.

Richard Branson

Mr Fossett's close friend Richard Branson said the discovery of the items possibly will help bring closure to his family and friends after his mysterious disappearance.

Mr Branson added that he was confident that documents apparently belonging to Mr Fossett, with whom the Virgin boss shared a string of adventures, were genuine.

"The positive thing is that today, a couple of stories that have appeared in the press, they'll be put to rest once and for all, and everybody who was close to Steve will have the chance now to pay the right a tribute to what was a truly great and extraordinary person," Mr Branson told Sky News.

"They're definitely authentic belongings, it was his pilot licence, his drivers licence, it was also a membership card to the national aeronautic association which gave Stephen an award a couple of years ago.

"He also often carried $100 bills with him so we are certain that these are genuine findings."

A multi-millionaire who made his fortune dealing stocks in Chicago, Fossett set dozens of world records in sailboats, gliders and hot-air balloons.

He famously made the first solo non-stop, non-refuelled circumnavigation of the world in 67 hours in the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer. In 2002, he was the first person to fly solo around the world in a balloon.

But a hiker in a remote area of California this week found two of his aviation identification cards.

The cards and a sweatshirt were found in a remote part of Madera County in the eastern Sierras between Yosemite National Park and the Nevada border.

Police in California have said that more than 30 search teams were being formed to comb the mountainous area for the wreckage in coming days ahead of a potential snowfall.